


Limitless

by Neko_ryn



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band), SM Rookies
Genre: Be patient character introduction will take time, I still don't know what some of the characters are so I'll add on that later, I'm still deciding if someone will die tho, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Supernatural AU - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-06 11:13:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11599455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neko_ryn/pseuds/Neko_ryn
Summary: Limitless was a coffee shop like any other, in charge of a witch with mysterious charms and served by a normal human and a fortune teller with incredible habilities. Of course, since the natural world had unveiled itself to the human eyes it was normal to even see angels and demons sharing a classroom. That didn't mean the problems between races were over, not even close.And things were going to become worse, a lot worse.Or "In which NCT lives in a world where it's common to see angels and demons beings besties and humans marryings mermaids and the like". I don't know how to do summaries.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there~ My name is Nekoryn and this is my first time in AO3, I'm starting with a NCT fanfic that I came up with after the latest comeback of NCT 127, it has nothing to do with the Supernatural tv program lol I'm not a native English speaker so I apologize in advance for any disastrous mistakes there might be here. This is only a small prologue, I'm translating the first chapter right now so it'll be up shortly, please enjoy!

The existence of creatures beyond earthly nature had stopped being a secret since decades ago, everyone knew that the children of demons went to the same schools as the humans or the angel hybrids, a witch could share a house with children of the sea, and the fairies had stopped hiding in the shelter of nature. It was, without a doubt, a world far more open to the existence of supernatural beings; however it wasn’t any less cruel. Especially to those who were hybrids, because mixture of different races was still badly seen, although just by the most conservatives of all.

There were, however, small recreational places In which it was easy to find a little of everything, and still manage a peaceful coexistence; that was the case of _Limitless_ , a small cafe in Seoul in charge of a Thai witch who was known by others as Ten. The establishment wasn’t really big, but If you needed a tea for fortune or a cup of coffee for love, you would easily find it there; the owner was another good reason to go, more often than not, those who knew the place would discuss about his charm, and if it was natural or due to magic. No one knew, but something was clear: you would want to go back.

Alongside Ten worked Dong Young, aside from helping with serving the order he also offered services as a fortune teller, since his ability with divination went beyond the abilities of a respected witch, even if he himself didn’t think of him as one. Dong Young, although maybe not as charming, was incredibly intelligent and perceptive, he helped Ten to know when something important would happen at the store, and sometimes he was better at perceiving what the clients needed more than themselves, that made him a valuable friend.

The last member of the team was Tae Il, he was probably the calmest of the three: a human. He only worked part time with them, and although he didn’t have any special ability like the other two, he helped to maintain a balance at the cafe in a way no other creature would be capable of; during the time he wasn’t working he studied at a music academy, maybe he couldn’t make use of magic like Ten or have powerful visions like Dong Young, but his voice was prodigious.

It was in Limitless, a coffee shop like any other, where strange things that wouldn’t happen anywhere else came to be, that’s the reason for the name: a limitless place, where anything could happen. And something important was about to happen indeed, something not even Dong Young could have predicted.


	2. Child of the Sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first chapter here. Translating is more difficult than it looks, also, the original story which is in Spanish is mine too, I'm doing this to reach to a greater audience and to practice my translating skills, that's all, remember I'm not a native English speaker and please enjoy ^^  
> Edit: A friend proof-read it for me so I made some grammatical corrections.

Starting a new day was always the most difficult thing to do for Tae Il, since he worked during the day and attended classes at night, he felt really tired. Because of this, the first thing he always saw when opening his eyes was a small sticky note in his alarm clock, reminding him to keep working in order to achieve his dream, and that breaking his clock would only cost him more money. Somehow that always got him to smile.

By six o´clock he was already showered, dressed and ready to go; he said goodbye to his parents and left his home quickly. Fortunately, the subway station wasn’t far away from his home, so it took him a couple of minutes of jogging in order to arrive and board the subway. He checked the calendar in his cellphone and tightened his hold around it; he had already talked with Ten about it a thousand of times and he had told him that there were no problems with his decision, but he still felt bad about it. The situation wasn’t complex: in approximately a couple of months a very famous company would be holding auditions to obtain new trainees, and Tae Il really wanted to participate, but that meant he would have to leave his work and his parents, which didn’t make him all that happy. However, both Dong Young and Ten had told him to not worry too much and take the opportunity, or else he would regret it later.

Not like the station he had to get off at, which the subway had just left behind because he was distracted thinking about other stuff. He cursed under silently and got off as soon as they arrived to the next station, he was still close to work, but he would have to run if he wanted to make it by the opening time, since a lot of people stopped there to have breakfast. Just like in any other place were food was sold, Limitless would always be full at breakfast, lunch and even dinner time; but breakfast time was special, since people asked for spells or lectures in order to plan out their days and make them better. In any case, he had to make it in time, or Dong Young would kill him without a doubt.

He ran. Tae Il was not the most athletic person in Earth but the situation didn’t give him any other option, he could have waited for the next subway to take him back to his station, but he would have had to run anyway because of the time lost while waiting.

* * *

Somewhere else in Seoul, a young witch had just managed to wake up from deep sleep thanks to the intervention of his mother who was yelling at him about how late it was already, very late. Mark woke up with a messy hair and cloudy eyes due to sleep, he tossed away the pillow that was over his head and sat up. Confused, he took a look at the clock beside his bed and his heart skipped a bit, no matter what he did, he was going to arrive late.

Mark sacrificed his breakfast in order to take a quick shower, he dressed quickly and ran out of his with his backpack hanging from his shoulders; he arrived at the bus stop just in time to take the bus and sat down in one of the empty seats. He looked at his watch with hope, but nothing would save him from a reprimand, there were only 5 minutes left before the bell rang.

The ride to school felt a lot longer than usual, probably due to the stress he was feeling at that moment and the fact that he hadn’t eaten breakfast and his stomach wouldn’t stop complaining; it was incredible how in his second year of high school this stuff still happened to him. He went off one stop before the one in which he was supposed to, and ran towards the back of the school; he wasn’t _that_ late and maybe he could excuse himself saying he was in the restroom.

With some difficulty, although not much, he jumped the school fence and ran towards the building as stealthily as possible. As soon as he was inside he ran to the classroom without making sure if someone had seen him, which did unfortunately happen, but he didn’t realize until he had arrived to the classroom. Mark opened the back door of the room with excessive force and met at least 20 pairs of eyes focused on him.

The teacher cleared her throat and he looked at the front, finding something unexpected: a boy with a serious expression on his face, more or less of his height, his hairs were of a darkish purple and his eyes were probably the most beautiful thing Mark had seen in his life, although if you were to ask him, he wouldn’t be able to answer _why_ , since they looked completely common compared to the other students in the room.

He cleared his throat in order to say something, until he felt something pulling his backpack strongly. The last thing he saw were the eyes of the boy looking at him intently before the door closed in his face.

* * *

Dong Young was already waiting beside the door when Tae Il came in running; he grabbed him from the collar of his shirt, causing the human to choke slightly, and sat him at a table that had the breakfast served. It looked like the fortune teller was angry, so the oldest said nothing and started eating; he always had breakfast at the coffee shop instead of his house, so the familiar taste of breakfast made him feel comforted.

—He’s here. — Dong Young said in a loud and clear voice and Ten came out through a door behind the counter, with a gentle smile that was characteristic of him.

—You almost don’t make it in time; did you get off at the wrong station? — his boss asked, and Tae Il nodded, looking at Dong Young with the question written in his face. Ten chuckled a little and nodded. —Finish quickly; we’re opening in three minutes.

Three minutes were very little time to have breakfast, but he was not one to complain since it was his own fault he had arrived so late to work and it surprised him that breakfast had been ready anyway, he felt grateful. Tae Il finished his breakfast quickly and went to the back of the store to change himself into the uniform of the establishment, which was nothing more than a white long sleeved shirt and a black apron. It wasn’t something he liked to wear much, but it made them look a bit more formal.

When he returned to the front of the store there was already a small group of people occupying a couple of tables, it didn’t take him long to approach them and take the orders, even recognizing a couple of frequent clients who wished him a good day. Usually, him and Dong Young would split the tables in order to take care of a more or less equal space, although when the clients asked for a reading it was Tae Il who had to take care of the tables, if there were no new orders Ten would go and help him, although the Thai boy would usually spend all of his time In the kitchen behind the counter. In any case, the human didn’t complain, he liked to work with the clients in an environment as warm and magical as was Limitless.

* * *

If you asked Dong Young if he liked his job, he would never say no, the problem was that his serious expression made it difficult to tell if he was being truthful or only trying to be courteous. The reality was that he loved his job and took it really seriously, since little he had been very good in the art of divination, he was also a very intelligent person and knew how to advice someone so they could have better fortune in the future.

The problem was that he always looked _too serious_ , to the point where one could think he was angry and feel intimidated, new clients often had trouble talking to him and it was necessary some persuasion from Ten, the most frequent clients usually recommended him to relax more and they would laugh when he tried to force an uncomfortable smile, it was simply that he had trouble socializing when it came to his job because of how serious it was for him.

—Dong Young, someone is waiting for you to do them a reading. — Tae Il told him as he delivered an order, he nodded with his head and walked to the small but sufficient space he had been assigned to perform readings; he didn’t work exclusively with tarot, he also knew how to use pendulums, read palms, interpret dreams, and could even get visions through mirrors or water.

—Good morning. — he greeted his client without looking at them, after sitting in his place he lighted up a little bit of incense in order to clean the place of bad energies. —How can I help you? — he asked, putting on a necklace with a pearl on it that helped him to direct the energy he used in his job.

—I would like you to read my palm, and a tarot reading too, just to know how my day will go.— a masculine voice spoke to him, although it didn’t seem familiar.

—Of course, give me your hand. — the stranger gave it to him and as soon as Dong Young touched, a strong, strange and unexplainable feeling overcame him. As he raised his eyes, he heard how something made of glass crashed into the floor.

—Tae Yong?

* * *

Mark had been captured by one of his teachers and taken back to where the discipline teacher had the other students that had also arrived late. So now he was standing in the front yard with his arms holding his own backpack on top of his head, while the discipline teacher recited to them the typical speech about why they shouldn’t be late to school, making them lose the first class almost completely. The truth was he had already heard that speech a lot of times before and could almost say it himself by memory; maybe he would have done it, as mockery, but his brain was too busy thinking about a certain pair of eyes that had him bewitched.

He couldn’t stop asking himself if maybe that boy was also a witch, maybe he was using a glamour, or maybe he was some other sort of magical creature; there was no other reasonable explanation to the effect his eyes had produced on him. When he was finally back at his classroom the first thing he did was find the boy, he was sitting a couple of places in front of him in the row to his right side; he observed him during class until recess came, when his friends pulled him to the cafeteria and forced him to distract himself a little.

That was when the unexpected happened.

—You are Lee Min Hyung, right?— an unknown voice asked to his left, so Mark raised his head and looked to his side, crossing sights with the same two strange eyes that had been bothering him all morning. He opened his mouth a couple of times, trying to say something, but in the end he shut his mouth unable to find what to say.

—What? Did a cat steal your tongue?— the new guys smiled, and it was then that Mark decided it could be no common human being, there was just no way such a simple smile could steal his breath away.

His friends looked at each other and laughed slightly while the “not human” sat beside them, the eyes of the witch following him in his every move.

—My name is Lee Dong Hyuck, nice to meet you. — well, at least those eyes had a name now.

* * *

The rest of the day went by normally, except for the fact that Mark was still unable to concentrate in anything else that wasn’t figuring out Dong Hyuck’s identity. When the last bell rang and it was time to leave, he abandoned his stuff and ran towards the boy who had already managed to create a great distance between the classroom and himself.

Mark grabbed his wrist and made him turn around, and then he saw them. Two blue orbs that looked like they contained the sea.

Dong Hyuck smiled.

— _Child of the sea_ …— was the only thing the witch managed to say, almost like a sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small note: nope, they don't all know each other magically since the beggining, I want to develope the relationships slowly and work with them since the start. I'm using the international age for everything and the story is set in 2017 but in like, May more or less.


	3. Premonition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter, freshly translated for your enjoyment~ Thank you all who've left kudos and comments, I'm very grateful ^^ Hope you like this chapter too!

The environment in the coffee shop was weirdly tense, like it fluctuated according to Ten’s mood, which wouldn’t be so strange considering the witch was the owner of the place and only him knew completely the magic involved in the establishment. Tae Il, probably the only of the workers that wasn’t left completely frozen, approached the owner quickly and started cleaning the mess he had caused when he let the cup of tea he had just prepared fall.

Meanwhile he was looking at the boy with pink dyed hair who was still holding Dong Young’s hand, who didn’t know how to react y was still looking at the cold hand of the stranger named Tae Yong. The situation was very weird, even the clients didn’t know well how to react since they had never seen something different to a smile in the face of the owner, and right now his face expressed everything except happiness.

Carefully, Tae Yong let go of the fortune teller’s hand and approached Ten, he was the only one smiling in such a bizarre situation. Tae Il stood up as soon as he saw him coming, feeling strangely defensive, but the witch grabbed his arm and made a sign to let him know it was alright.

—I’ll go out for a moment… Take care of the shop. — he told them, looking at the pink haired man nonstop with a mix of indecipherable emotions. He went out through the main door of the café and Tae Yong followed him in silence, still with a smile on his face.

The establishment was left in silence for a moment, and then it was slowly filled with the chatter of the customers and the sounds of cutlery crashing against each other. Tae Il and Dong Young looked at each other in silence and with the same question in their minds. Just who was the man that had just arrived to the store?

* * *

—Surprised? — Dong Hyuck asked him, as if the expression in Mark’s face wasn’t evident enough. —You could let go of me, you know? You’re hurting me a little bit.

Slowly, as if the boy in front of him was a wild creature that could attack him at the smallest sign of violence, Mark let go of him and stood where he was, not knowing how to react; being 18 years old he had met hybrids of every species, but nothing with something real, something pure.

—What…? — the question was left uncompleted, he was afraid of being rude.

—…am I? — the other finished it with a smile that somehow still seemed magical to him. —A selkie, I am a selkie.

—I thought…

—That all selkies are women? Do you still believe that in times like this? — the child of the sea answered with mockery, interrupting the older and causing him to frown.

—You’re supposed to be charming women that seduce men… Or something like that…— the conviction in his voice faded when he saw how Dong Hyuck raised an eyebrow, looking at him like he was an idiot.

—Those, are mainly mermaids, plus, men can also possess the same “charm”, or are you going to deny what you felt when you saw me the first time? — Mark suddenly realized how close the selkie was to him and stepped back, his face burning red due to the words and smile of the boy; more than fascination, he felt enormous want to hit him in that moment.

—Don’t worry. — Dong Hyuck grabbed his chin and Mark felt unable to move away, so he looked directly into those eyes that could probably contain the ocean. —You’re not in love with me, the sensation should pass with time, don’t worry. — he said with a sincere smile before letting go. —I hope we can be friends, Min Hyung-hyung.

Dong Hyuck said goodbye to him, leaving him unable to speak and the tips of his ears red due to embarrassment. He really hoped that feeling would fade away soon.

* * *

Both stared at each other fixatedly, anyone would have thought they were statues from far away since none of them showed signs of being alive other than breathing. Tae Yong had that branded smile on his face that was slightly mocking, while Ten looked at him with a frown in his face, tasting in his mouth everything he wanted to say to the oldest, unable to decide where to begin. Maybe if he started with something not so personal the conversation would flow easily.

—You’re not human. — it wasn’t a question, but a statement, which caused the “not human” to look at the witch with confusion, it wasn’t the first thing he expected to hear from him.

—I…

—What are you?— he didn’t let him finish, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to listen to what Tae Yong had to say; once the first words were out his feelings settled with ease, and he decided it was easier and sensible to be angry in that moment. Tae Yong approached him and grabbed his wrist; he moved his hand to where his heart should be and waited for moment that seemed an eternity until there was a very weak beat. When he raised his head, Ten met a couple of dark red eyes and two fangs as sharp as needles. — _Vampire…—_ the witch whispered, and suddenly his anger doubled.

—Leave.— he hit Tae Yong’s hand so he would let go and moved away from him, walking once again towards the coffee shop; the vampire tried to stop him of course, but the look he got from the black haired man was enough to stop him and shut him up.

Ten entered the coffee shop and tried to appear as calm as possible as he walked towards the counter, he had to complete a couple of orders that were pendant and he had already lost a lot of time talking with an idiot that was not worth it, not after everything that had happened in the past. Dong Young, probably the more curious of the two employees, approached him first and asked him the question that both he and Tae Il had been wanting to ask.

—Who was he? — Ten looked towards the door, where he could still see Tae Yong looking at him.

—The bastard of my ex best friend…— he said, still angry. Of course, that wasn’t the full truth, and somehow he didn’t feel better after completing the sentence. —And my ex-boyfriend.

* * *

_Sun & Moon_ was an establishment known for three things: their hair dyes, being always updated with the latest trends, and the charismatic and handsome stylist that worked there. Jung Yoon Oh was very fortunate to be able to say that said stylist was his best friend and that he got well with his mother, so if he needed something done with his hair, he always knew where to go.

That day was not the exception, Yoon Oh wanted to try something new and without thinking it twice he had already set his way towards Sun & Moon; its owner, a strict but loveable woman, had liked him since the first moment he met him years ago when he went to study to the United States. It was during that time he met whom would become his best friend, John Seo, better known as Johnny: a guy that was just too tall but more of a softie than would be expected.

Johnny had had to stop studying when it became impossible for his mother to pay his career after his father, a demon, abandoned them. However he had not left behind his optimistic attitude and had learned his mother and the other two employees’ secrets and soon he had become part of the team; what he liked the most about his job was the artistic side of the stuff they did there, it was fun and he also had the chance to meet a lot of people during the day, he was never bored.

It didn’t take long for Yoon Oh to get to the salon, and as soon as he got there he was greeted but the employees who knew him very well already.

— _Bro~—_ Johnny’s voice greeted him with the slight American accent that always came whenever he spoke English. —You were taking your time to come and see me! — he reprimanded him with a joking tone, a typical smile adorning his face. Yoon Oh laughed and patted his shoulder.

—I can’t come to cut my hair everyday. — he leaned against the wall and watched his friend give the last touch to the makeup of a girl, who would have gotten angry if it wasn’t because even she knew who Yoon Oh was.

—That’s not an excuse, or are we friends only so I take care of you hair?

—Not even could have said that better.— he teased and Johnny looked at him hurt, Yoon Oh smiled at him mischievously and both of them laughed it off, they were always joking like that.

—And you’re done, beautiful. My mom will tend to you at the cashier. — the hybrid told her with a smile, and she said goodbye to both of them before standing up and going to pay. —What can I do for you today, same as always? Your hair is a bit long already…

—No… I’m here for something special today, I want you to dye my hair; something like a light brown would be nice…

—You’re finally going to let me do it, huh? Although I’m starting to consider it, since you only come to see me so I can take care of your hair…— they both knew how this was going to end.

—I’ll treat you to a meal if you stop complaining, hyung.

—That’s my little angel, come on, take a sit. — Johnny pointed at the chair and the other took a sit.

The “little angel” was quite literal actually, Yoon Oh was an angel hybrid and lived in a similar situation to that of the demon, although in his case, more than abandonment, it was that the death of his mother had left him with only his father. Although they were nothing more than stereotypes, people couldn’t help but wonder how an angel hybrid and a demon hybrid could be such good friends, it was probably because both of them had found comfort in the similarities of their lives. They didn’t care, they were happy just like that.

* * *

After several rinses and one dye they were saying goodbye to Johnny’s mother and coworkers; apparently Yoon Oh had found a place that had caught his attention during his free time and had wanted to try it out with his best friend, so this was the perfect situation.

It was a little past lunch time, so the establishment wasn’t too full, but that was okay since they would be able to enjoy a nice time just being themselves with no problems. As soon as they were sitting a waiter approached them, he was considerably smaller to the two friends and had a slightly curly hair; his name tag read “Tae Il”.

—Good afternoon, my name is Tae Il and I will be your waiter for today, welcome. — He gave them two menus to each of them, one of them red “normal” under the word Menu and the other one read “magical”. —May I offer you a drink to begin with?

Yoon Oh opened the menu that said “magical” with curiosity and went straight to the drinks section, there was a broad selection of beverages that went from juices, to teas, coffees and even alcoholic drinks, all of them had a description that explained what their function was. The normal menu was similar, but without the special effects that came with magic.

—Oh, I think I would like to try a berry juice, it says here it’s for attracting love. — the angel said jokingly and Johnny laughed; the waiter, however, didn’t look so entertained.

—Don’t underestimate the magic of the owner, our coffee shop is known for having really successful spells.— Tae Il told them with a small smile in his face.

Both hybrids looked at each other and decided to order a simple coke, magic was not something to play with and there wasn’t anything they were interested in at the moment anyway. When Tae Il left, Johnny followed him with his eyes and then smiled.

—He’s really small…— Yoon Oh laughed.

—You’re stupidly tall.

* * *

—Dong Young, my turn is over and I have to go to college, could you tell Ten? — Tae Il said, walking towards the employees’ room to get changed.

—Hyung…— the youngest followed him and grabbed his arm; even if he was older Tae Il was shorter than him. —I have a bad feeling… Be careful. — he didn’t say much else before letting go of him and leaving, there was a lot of work to do.

Tae Il should have paid more attention to that warning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small review in case you're lost:  
> Ten and Mark are witches (For me, the word is nonbinary)  
> Tae Il is a human  
> Dong Young is a fortune teller  
> Tae Yong is a vampire  
> Dong Hyuck is a selkie  
> Johnny is a demon hybrid  
> and Yoon Oh is an angel hybrid
> 
> Hybrids are the combination of two races, both Johnny and Yoon Oh are human and demon/angel respectively.  
> Witches are long time descendants of hybrids and people with special abilities like Dong Young were gifted by a magical creature when they were younger.


	4. Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a bit more than 2k but the chapter feels so short lmao  
> Just want to say thanks for the kudos, the subscriptions and the comments, I really appreciate them ^^ I hope you enjoy this chapter too, I'm going to be making side stories for this later on so do expect them~

It had been more or less a week since Dong Hyuck had joined his class and Mark still didn’t know how to feel about it. He had discovered that the selkie was several months younger than him, and that his personality was incredibly voluble: he liked to joke and annoy the others, and Mark seemed to be his favorite victim.

But at the same time he wasn’t that sure _who_ Lee Dong Hyuck was, he knew his species and what he had experiences of his personality, but it was a mystery why he had transferred when the year had already started and there was also the fact that no one knew anything about his family or his life outside of school. Mark sometimes suspected that maybe he had run away from home or imagined that the child of the sea was the heir of a rich family due to the pampered way he acted sometimes; whichever was the answer, it didn’t seem like he was going to find out soon.

Even though he was really annoying, there was something Dong Hyuck was right about: the feeling that had invaded Mark the first time they met had been disappearing little by little, sometimes he would look at him and feel the same “charm” overwhelm him, but each time the effect was lesser. That made him feel slightly guilty, it would probably be hard for the minor to find someone that really liked him by who he was, and not by what his species implicated.

It was because of this sort of things that Mark just couldn’t get angry with the younger one no matter how annoying he got sometimes, there was so little he knew about him that he felt incapable of judging him; even though his actions could point to it, he didn’t seem like someone who was bad, he had apologized every time he had crossed the line, and even his friends admitted that they liked him even with how annoying he could get.

—You’re going to dig a hole in his head if you keep looking at him in that way. — a voice with a slight foreigner accent whispered in his ear and caused him to jump in surprise. Mark looked over his right shoulder and found Huang Ren Jun’s face really close to his, causing him to be even more surprised and move away, dropping his pencil case by accident.

—I’m going to dig a hole in your face if you do that again. — the oldest muttered angrily, picking up his things from the floor.

—Whatever you say hyung, but… why are you so obsessed with Dong Hyuck?

—I would also like to know, he’s pretty annoying but not a bad guy, he doesn’t deserve you digging a hole in his head. — that voice belonged to Lee Je No, who was smiling so widely his eyes had disappeared in crescents.

Mark wanted to hit both of them badly.

—I’m not _obsessed_ , I’m just…  Curious, he transferred out of nowhere and is now becoming our friend, I think it’s normal for me to want to know who he is.— Mark looked at Dong Hyuck again and found him staring at them; the mischievous smile in his face told the three friends that trouble was on its way.

* * *

After Dong Young’s warning, Tae Il had continued living like normal for a whole week. He didn’t want to mistrust his friend who had an incredible ability when it came to divination, but he had started to think that maybe the fortune teller had been wrong and his premonition wasn’t anything, everyone made mistakes.

At the same time he couldn’t help but feel a bit paranoiac, especially when he walked out in the streets in his own. He felt like someone was following him, causing him to constantly be checking his back to make sure it wasn’t like that; it was going to drive him crazy. He didn’t have, however, the courage to ask Dong Young for more details because the boy could be slightly scary when it came to his abilities.

What he had done though, was ask Ten to make him a protection charm, and after explaining him the situation the witch had agreed easily with a smile. The charm had a simple appearance: it was a small crystal bottle that contained a combination of herbs and crystals, all of them enchanted to serve the same purpose: protecting Tae Il.

Sometimes he would find himself holding the charm in his right hand while it hung around his neck; he did that when he was feeling thoughtful, asking himself if it was really protecting him from something and if maybe his paranoia had reached the point where he had started to feel the need of using things like the necklace.

It wasn’t that Tae Il doubted Ten’s magic, he had seen it working to many times to not believe in it, but he had always preferred to not get involved with witches after a fight that almost destroyed his family, and at the end the two sides had stopped talking to each other. He knew Ten, however, and he was a good guy, even though he was younger he was already managing his own store in a successful way and he always seemed to have things under control, which was admirable.

Because of that he repeated himself that there was no reason to doubt Ten and Dong Young and that maybe with time something would happen, although maybe it was for the best that they were wrong, because if something did happen… What would he do? He didn’t know how to defend himself and didn’t have the ability to take quick decisions that could save his life; the truth was that maybe doubting his friends was the best for his mental health.

Whichever was the case, it was not the time to think about that, he was in the middle of class and needed to focus, his scholarship and grades relayed on that and it wasn’t something he could lose at the moment. Tae Il had a prodigious voice, people told him that pretty often, but everyone knew he wouldn’t make it fat if he didn’t learn how to use it; because of that he had worked hard to obtain a scholarship and get classes.

He settled the rest of his expenses by working at Limitless, that way he helped his parents a little since they had enough problems themselves. Sometimes he would manage to earn a little bit more and would invite himself to a nice meal, but that didn’t happen often.

With a sigh, he let go of the charm; it hit his chest softly and then settled on top of his clothes. He needed to focus in class.

* * *

Johnny leaned against the sink with his head hanging low and water dripping from his hair onto the ceramic surface; he had his bangs held back, something he did quite rarely, and slowly lifted up his head and looked at himself in the smooth surface of the mirror. His reflection looked back at him with a couple of eyes that were very different between them, one was of a typical dark brown -almost black- color that someone could expect from most people.

The other eye however, was almost grotesque. Everything, from where the pupil should be to the white part of the eye, was completely black; fine red lines extended through its surface and to the skin that surrounded his eye, looking almost like scratches.

That was what people called a _mark_ , usually hybrids from any species had a characteristic mark in their bodies, Yoon Oh also had one: a couple of scars where his wings should have been if he had been born as an actual angel. Johnny had seen them only once in his life, and he could still feel a ghostly pain when he thought of them, but at least his friend didn’t have the mark in a visible place, Johnny however…

He had been born and had lived his whole life like that, and he didn’t hate the mark any less; when he was still going to school he had to use a patch that covered his eye because he couldn’t have bangs on his face, so it was obvious for his classmates that there was something wrong with his face.

Usually, supernatural creatures could take a completely human form without problem, it was something magic allowed them to do, but hybrids didn’t have that option, they had to live with their marks forever and they were difficult to hide; plastic surgery was a thing, but most couldn’t afford it. Most people would just get used to it and live with it, but the demon hybrid couldn’t, and he unconsciously knew it had to do with his father abandoning them.

He sighed again and decided to dry himself up and get dressed, it was late but he wanted to go out and walk for a while to clear up his mind and vent a little, he wouldn’t be able to attend clients the next day if he was in a bad mood. Plus, he didn’t want his mother to see him like that, he knew she blamed herself about Johnny being born like that, but it wasn’t her fault or anyone’s actually.

Not even his father’s.

* * *

Dong Hyuck was completely sure his father had forgotten about him, there was no other possible explanation. Since he was new in Seoul he still didn’t know how to get home from school, and since they had money they could allow themselves to have a personal driver to take anywhere they needed; however, this time they had completely forgotten about the young selkie and he was now trying to make a decision about what to do.

After a week travelling from his house to the school and the other way around, he had a vague idea of what path he should follow; the problem was that he had been waiting for hours and he wasn’t sure it was a good idea to walk home so late. As he considered his options, his cellphone started to vibrate in his pocket, so he took it out and answered when he saw it was his father.

—Why haven’t you come to pick me up? — he asked as soon as he answered, he was someone with good manners, but right now he was beyond annoyed.

—I’m sorry son, your mother used the driver the whole day and I forgot to send him for you. — his father didn’t sound like he was sorry though, he was probably checking stuff from work while talking to him.

—Right, what a surprise…— he mumbled sarcastically, it wasn’t the first time something like this happened.

—Why didn’t you try to go home yourself? — his father complained, making him even angrier. —You’re old enough already.

—If that is what you want. — Dong Hyuck hung up and threw the cellphone inside his backpack so he could ignore the possible calls he would be getting from his father. The anger he felt was enough to make him walk alone in the night without thinking about the possible consequences.

And it was indeed a terrible idea.

* * *

Tae Il felt tired, working and studying at the same time was always tiring. But he also felt some sort of satisfaction knowing that he was doing his best and he would soon be auditioning for one of South Korea’s best entertainment enterprises, he felt closer to his dream of becoming a singer each day.

The way to his house from the academy was long, so he decided to put on his earphones and accompany his trip with music. The backpack felt heavy on his back, but he decided to ignore it in favor of focusing on getting home, where his parents would probably either be waiting for him or already sleeping soundly, his dinner resting in the fridge with a loving note from his mother.

The problem was that he wasn’t getting home that night.

He stopped walking slowly and looked fixatedly at the scene that developed in front of him: there was a car with a spacious trunk open, four tall men and in the middle of them what seemed to be a young boy. He took off his earphones and at the same time one man pushed the boy against one of his mates, and the other grabbed him by the shoulders.

They struggled, and then between two men they picked up the kid and he screamed. Before he could even reason, Tae Il was already running towards them, he could feel his heart pumping in his ear and knew that he was yelling at them, but not even he understood what he was saying.

He pushed one of the guys that was holding the boy and then another man pulled at him, causing the chain of the necklace to break and the charm to fall to the floor, breaking; Tae Il didn’t even realize.  He stood up, staggering, and heard the sound of a hit that would have frozen anyone.

The pain traveled quickly through his skull, and he didn’t have time to complain, everything turned black quickly and he was left unconscious.


	5. Disappearance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooo another chapter yay! (?) I know it seems like things are going ugly pretty early but... They'll get worse! So don't worry about it ^^ Thanks again for the kudos, the comments, bookmarks and subscriptions, I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Johnny had been walking for approximately half an hour with no defined path, the night’s fresh air had helped him relax and reflect; he was wearing a patch on his eye just in case, since the recent shower had left his hair slightly curly and he wasn’t sure it was covering him enough.

When more or less 45 minutes had passed he decided that maybe returning home was for the best, his mother would be worried if he stayed outside for more time. He turned around and after a couple of steps he felt something under his shoes, he kneeled down and picked up a bunch of small crystal chunks, herbs and stones. He searched at the floor for an explanation as if it could answer him, and then he found a piece of cork that had a chain sticking to it; he object seemed to be a necklace.

He stood and started walking once again, observing the pieces of the destroyed necklace with curiosity, he felt like he had seen it before but he wasn’t completely sure where it was. What he was sure of was that it must be the product of a witch, so he would go to Limitless before opening time to ask there, maybe they could tell him whose it was. Carefully, Johnny put what was left of the necklace in the pocket of his jacket and continued his way home, he would solve the mystery tomorrow.

After then had prohibited him from entering the coffee shop, Tae Yong had been visiting the place almost every day without walking inside, he would stay there for a couple of minutes just waiting to see if the witch would give him another chance to talk, but in the end he would always leave because he had a life to tend to and things to do.

This time he had arrived a lot earlier than usual, the café wasn’t even open yet but the vampire knew they were already there because he had seen one of the waiters entering the establishment; he was the fortune teller that had taken his request the other time, although in the end he couldn’t get it done. He walked towards the entrance at the same time the fortune teller exited the coffee shop, although he turned around as soon as he saw they had a visitor.

—Long time no see, don’t you think? — it had been a little more than a week, but he couldn’t think of a better way to start the conversation.

—I would rather it stays that way.— was the answer he received after the other man turned around, he didn’t seem all too happy of seeing him there.

—Rude. — Tae Yong whispered as he raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest and walking closer to the other. —How old are you…? — he looked at the name tag that rested on top of the uniform. —Dong Young.

—Why do you care? — angry, Dong Young took of his name tag and crushed it in his hand; he didn’t want to deal with the vampire for longer. —Leave, Ten said he didn’t want to see you over here again.

—And who are you to intervene in our business? — although he considered himself someone patient, the vampire was starting to lose his patience.

—His friend, now leave. — the fortune teller turned around and opened the door of the shop.

—Just tell him I want to see him, everything is a misunderstanding! — Tae Yong yelled at the other before he finished going in and then sighed, defeated. He needed to talk to Ten one way or the other.

* * *

That day Mark had woken open miraculously early and he was on time for class; when there was little time left to get to his stop he stopped the music player in his cellphone and put away his earphones, he approached the exit and got off shortly after, in no time he was walking towards the school’s entrance.

As he approached he noticed that there were several unfamiliar vehicles parking in front or near the entrance, some of them were police vehicles; naturally he felt curious about what was going on, but he remembered what his parents often told him: not getting involved was always the safest option.

In any case, it wasn’t necessary for him to search the answers, since when the teacher entered the classroom to give them the daily announcements, she wasn’t alone. By her side was a tall man, short hair slicked back; both of them looked terribly serious, which made everyone in the classroom feel tense.

—Good morning, the detective is going to be with us today to ask you guys a few important questions, I ask you to cooperate in the best way possible. — she told them in a soft tone, although she seemed quite worried, then she gave the word to the detective.

—My name is Choi Si Won, I am a detective and I work with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. — he introduced himself as he took out his badge and showed it to the students. —I came here to ask you some questions about you classmate Lee Dong Hyuck, who was recently transferred to this school.

After hearing those words Mark couldn’t help but straighten up on his sit and look at Ren Jun and Je No, both of them looked just as confused as him.

—My partner and I have asked for the teachers’ lounge in order to ask the questions, so we ask you to go in pairs in order to make the process faster, please cooperate.

His mother had told him plenty of times to not get involved with this sort of things, but Mark was pretty sure he was going to ignore those words this time.

* * *

Tae Il woke up with a sharp headache and feeling dizzy, he was sure his eyes were open so he couldn’t understand why everything was still black. It was until he tried to breathe to his mouth that he felt how he was gagged and the plastic bag that covered his face closed on him, making him cough because of the scare. He moved around, scared, but his hands were uncomfortably tied behind his back and he felt a dead weight on his legs, the confusion and pain made him incapable of reasoning what it was, until it moved on its own.

A soft groan was heard from whatever was resting on his legs and he knew it was alive; there was silence for a short moment and then panic. The person on his legs started hyperventilating and then tried to shout through the gag on his mouth, they moved until falling from his legs and then stayed still, sobbing. Tae Il tightened his fists behind his back and remembered that the person with his was nothing more than a kid, he had to remain calm.

His calmness, however, didn’t last much. A door opened and their kidnappers entered the room, forcing them both to stand up and walk to an unknown place, he could hear the sound of a hit when the kid walking by his side tried to get away from them, for a moment he though the kid had been left unconscious until he heard groans of pain. He wasn’t completely sure they were going to get out alive from this.

* * *

It didn’t take Johnny much time to get to Limitless, the place was closer to his home than what he had thought the first time he had gone, and since that day he had gone almost every day even if Yoon Oh wasn’t with him. He had discovered that the people that worked there were of his age group, so it was a lot of fun to spend time with them, they got along well.

When he got to the door he saw a pink haired person standing outside of the establishment, he looked at the man with curiosity before shrugging and walking into the place, he had a mystery to solve before going to work. Since it wasn’t opening time yet, the place was completely empty except for those who worked there, of course.

—Excuse me, but we aren’t open yet- Oh, Johnny? — Dong Young’s familiar voice welcomed him, and the hybrid smiled. —What are you doing here so early?

—I just came to visit, is Ten here? I wanted to ask him something.

—Are you looking for me? — the witch smiled at them from behind the counter, he had come out of the kitchen at the exact moment to listen how they asked for him.

—Question answered! — Johnny walked towards the counter and the fortune teller followed him with curiosity. —I found this laying around while I walked in the streets last night, and I’m pretty sure this is the work of a witch, so I wanted to ask an expert. — he winked at him as he looked for the necklace’s parts In his pocket. As soon as he took it out and put it on the counter, both Ten and Dong Young went pale.

—Tae Il…— both of them whispered and Johnny wanted to ask what was going on but the sound of the telephone stopped him. Dong Young answered.

 _“This is Limitless right? You work with my son.”_ It was the desperate voice of a woman, she was crying. _“Where is my son? He didn’t return home last night, where is he?”_

—Tae Il… is gone?

* * *

—Alright, your name is… Lee Min Hung right? And you are… Lee Je No? — the detective Si Won asked and both of them nodded softly. —Okay, sit down please. — he pointed at the chairs in front of him and both of them sat down. —You should know Lee Dong Hyuck; he is in your class, right? — the detective showed them a picture of the selkie, it was one of those typical picture used to fill out official formularies.

—Yes, he transferred about a week ago; he usually spends time with us and Ren Jun-hyung usually. — Je No was the first to answer; Mark had picked the picture and was staring at it intently.

—What happened to him? — in truth, there was no need to answer, it was probably the main scandal in the news, but Mark felt the necessity to know. Si Won looked at him intently for a second and then sighed; the boy looked clearly affected by the situation.

—He’s disappeared; we believe he may have been kidnapped on his way home. — he explained with a serious tone.

—That doesn’t make any sense…— the witch whispered. —I’m the one who spends the most time with him, since I usually go home by bus I just wait with him until they come and get him, they always pick him up without foul, Ren Jun and Je No have stayed a couple of times too.— he explained and Je No confirmed the information. —Yesterday was different; my mom called asking me to help her with something at home so I left early, Ii should have stayed…

—I see… Thank you for the information, you can return to your classroom. — both boys said goodbye and returned to their class.

* * *

Johnny made his way through the policemen that wanted to keep them from entering by force, Dong Young, Ten and Tae Il’s parents were following him; it seemed that no one wanted to listen to what they had to say because everyone was working on an important case, but they were not going to stay put.

—You can’t just barge in like that! — another policeman tried to stop them, but it didn’t last long.

—My friend has been kidnapped, so move away!— Johnny pushed him aside, the abrupt movement caused his hair to move and reveal the mark, everyone stayed in silence for a moment, it almost looked like it was beating. The first one to react was a detective that had been answering a call.

—A kidnapping? — her voice seemed to get the hybrid out of his violent state, and he covered his face with embarrassment, hoping his friends hadn’t seen it.

—It’s my son, my son has disappeared! — Tae Il’s mother intervened, standing in front of Johnny and approaching the official. —He didn’t get home yesterday, he doesn’t answer our calls and no one has seen him, please find my son…— her voice broke in sobs once again, and her husband approached her to console her.

—You’re the parents right? Who are you? — the detective helped the mother to sit down.

—I am his boss, please call me Ten. He is my other employee, Dong Young, and he’s Johnny, a friend of us. — the witch explained quickly, finally someone was listening to them.

—Why do you believe he was kidnapped? — another detective asked.

—Aside from what the lady said… I found this last night, in the middle of the street. — Johnny took out a plastic back that contained the pieces of the necklace; the detectives looked at it in confusion.

—It is a charm I made for Tae Il, I am a witch. It was supposed to be for protection, but it doesn’t work if it’s broken…— Ten explained, frowning slightly.

—Can you take us to the place where you found it? — Johnny nodded. —Okay Amber, let’s get moving, we have to kidnapping reports and something seems suspicious here.


	6. Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just... Don't hate me :v

Three days had gone by since they had reported Tae Il’s kidnapping to the police and the only thing they knew was that alongside him was taken a kid named Dong Hyuck. They hadn’t found the corpses so everyone hoped that they were still alive, but they couldn’t be completely sure, and that was what annoyed them the most.

During those days Johnny had been helping out at Limitless during the schedule that was supposed to be the human’s, and in the afternoons he would return to his mother’s business to help her there. Yoon Oh had gone to the coffee shop every single day too and had tried to keep the atmosphere as relaxed as possible, which had been really helpful, especially for Dong Young who seemed the most affected by the situation and had found some relief in the mischievous and happy attitude of the angel hybrid.

Johnny had talked with all of his contacts in an attempt to obtain information, while Ten developed a spell to localize him and Dong Young tried to obtain visions about Tae Il; most of their effort had been in vain, they had reached the conclusion that the kidnappers were not humans or hybrids, and they were powerful. Maybe if the protection charm had stayed with him it would have been easier to locate him.

As he cleaned one of the tables, Ten reached for the demon and leaned against his back, he looked tired and his eyes were closing due to sleepiness; breakfast hour was over so the place was basically empty.

“Thank you for helping us hyung, although you didn’t have to.” The witch whispered so low it was difficult to catch, however Johnny had better senses than the average human.

“Are you kidding? You and Dong Young look like a mess, if it wasn’t for me this place would be falling apart already.” He answered in a joking tone as he cleaned, being careful of not pushing the boy away.

“How humble…” His sarcasm was weak but the demon hybrid didn’t say anything about it. Just as he finished cleaning the table, a smiling Yoon Ooh walked through the main door carrying a bunch of stuff.

“Guess who is back with donuts and coffee, let’s take a break.” He told them while he put the donut box and the coffee cups on one of the empty tables.

“We are a coffee shop, we have donuts and coffee, why did you go buy them elsewhere?” Dong Young asked him with a sigh, leaving whatever he had been doing alone and sitting on the table with the food.

“Because you’re a mess right now and I think it would be convenient for you to eat something that isn’t made here. Just look at yourselves in the mirror… Or actually, better not, if you don’t want to be scarred for life.” Yoon Oh sat next to the fortune teller and immediately after received a hit from him in his arm, making him laugh.

Johnny helped Ten to sit at the table and then distributed the coffee and the donuts. They stayed like that for a while, talking and eating, they were all worried and the tension could be felt, but they were trying their best to not let that show.

* * *

The environment in the classroom was strange, three days had gone by since Dong Hyuck had disappeared and everyone was conscious of that, but somehow it had been like going back to the days before the selkie arrived and most of the students seemed to not care; only those who had interacted with him at least once were actually aware of him being missing.

Their tutor came into the classroom and observed Dong Hyuck’s place with certain worry, it must be difficult for someone so attached to their students to know one of them has gone missing After giving them the notices for the day she left the place and the usual chattering invaded the class once again. Mark too stood up and walked towards were Je No and Ren Jun sat, close to the other.

“Are there any news?” Was the first thing he asked, looking at both of them, but mainly at the Chinese.

“Mark-hyung, I know I am a medium, but I won’t automatically know if someone…” He decided against finishing the sentence, somehow it was just unthinkable to say it out loud. “Dong Hyuck is fine, just be patient, he’ll be back.”

“And can’t you ask them to search for him…?” The witch asked in a low voice and Ren Jun sighed, exasperated.

“Hyung, I think you’re asking him for too much…” Je No intervened for the first time in the conversation, he felt uncomfortable watching them discuss like that.

“But he could be helping the investigation, he could…”

“Do you think I like having this ability?” The medium interrupted him, coldly. “I hate it, and you know it, why are you asking me this?”

Mark stood in silence for a moment, reflecting about what he was doing, and he had been indeed rude after asking something so egoistic, especially because Ren Jun trusted him and they had known each other for years. He sighed.

“I’m sorry… I just, I feel responsible, maybe if I had stayed with him that day this wouldn’t have happened, and I want to do something through my own magic but I still can’t control it, it’s frustrating that there’s nothing I can do…”

The three friends stood in silence for a moment and shortly after their teacher arrived, Mark returned to his place in silence, thoughtful. He felt guilty and not being able to do anything to help frustrated him. He wanted Dong Hyuck to be back so that the four of them could get to know each other and become true friends, he wanted the last three days to be gone.

* * *

Tae Il and Dong Hyuck weren’t sure of how much time had passed since they had been kidnapped, they had stayed together the whole time almost clinging at each other like their lives depended of that. Aside from water their captors hadn’t given them anything else, they had slept sporadically, always on edge in case the men came looking for them; their eyes had already grown unaccustomed of the light and their extremities hurt because they were always on the floor unable to move, they had only been moved a couple of times.

That day was a bit different however, when they were forced to move to another place they didn’t struggle thinking they were only being moved to a different room just like before, but after what seemed like just a few minutes they were forced to kneel on the floor and the black bags on their heads were removed. The sudden light made their eyes and heads hurt, making them complain; when they could finally open them again, they found themselves in the middle of a wide room, there were men everywhere and in front of them a chair where a grotesque mixture of a human and a demon sat, it was something they had never seen before.

“I’m guessing you’re the selkie, right?” He asked while looking at the youngest, who tried to move backwards but wasn’t allowed to by a man who grabbed him strongly from the shoulders. “Your eyes tell me everything, not many creatures can have such beautiful eyes.” His voice was hoarse but deep. “Who is he?” He asked again, this time looking at Tae Il.

“We don’t know, sir. He tried to intervene when we were performing our tasks. We thought he might be a guard, but he’s nothing more than a weak and stupid human who got in trouble.” The man behind him spoke, causing him to shiver.

“I see… Did you research him in case he could be useful to us?” The leader asked the other men in the room, and Tae Il liked the situation a little less as the seconds passed.

“Yes, his family isn’t especially rich and he’s nothing more than a human, there doesn’t seem to be anything interesting.”

“If that’s the case… Get rid of him, and ask for the rescue money for the selkie, we need it.”

Immediately after saying that, Tae Il started to panic and tried to move in his place, however the black bag was put again on his head and he was  dragged out of the room, he managed to listen to the youngest struggle too before the door was closed leaving him all alone.

* * *

Johnny was on his way home after running some errands for his mother: the day had been long and tiring, he had returned to the police station to check if they had news about Tae Il or the other kid that had disappeared with him. After a couple of days it had become obvious that it was a kidnapping, but no one knew why, it sounded cruel but the family of the human didn’t have money or anything valuable to offer in exchange of his son; it has probably been bad luck, maybe he had been at the wrong place in the wrong moment. Even so, no one had lost the hope of finding him alive and well.

As he walked home the hybrid couldn’t help but wonder what he would have done in such a situation, certainly he was a lot stronger because of the two species that made him, but he wasn’t sure how he would ask if he became a victim of a kidnapping. Even so, his life had always been pretty calm and the biggest events in his life had been his father leaving the family and having to drop out of school, nothing that wasn’t relatively easy to live with.

The noise of a car skidding and what seemed to be a shot made him stop and return to reality, he froze for a couple of seconds before his legs started moving by inertia in the direction of the shot, he was pretty sure it had come from the same place he had found Tae Il’s necklace, and he wasn’t wrong.

As he approached he saw a black van leave the scene quickly, revealing a shapeless lump that rested unmoving in the floor.  Without thinking it twice the hybrid approached the thing and discovered it was the body of a man, with his hands tied behind his back and the head covered by a black plastic bag, the dirty gray sweater he was wearing had started to turn a red blood on his right side.

Johnny quickly pulled out his cellphone and called emergencies, yelling at them where he was and explaining the situation clumsily as he dropped his mother’s errand and kneeled beside the body. With one hand he took the pulse and screamed at the person in the phone to hurry up before handing up.

Unsure, the demon removed the black plastic bag from the man’s head and his heart shrank painfully in his chest when he saw who it was.

“Tae Il…” He murmured with short breathe, and quickly started removing the gag that was in his mouth. “Hyung, wake up, wake up dammit! Don’t do this to me.”

He moved behind the body and removed the ties on his wrists, which were purplish and had blood residues in the areas the rope had harmed his skin. His face was also full of bruises, and Johnny was completely sure there were a lot more injuries in other parts of his body.

He removed his jacket and tried to put pressure on the wound at his side, trying to stop the blood as much as possible. He did it for minutes that felt like an eternity, until his hands were also covered with blood and without realizing he started crying, in silence, focusing as much as possible on keeping the human alive.

The ambulance arrived finally, followed by several police cars; they were separated and Johnny didn’t have the strength to try and stay by Tae Il’s side, he could only watch as the ambulance took him away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hey, I'm back, I just started college and settling down and everything took way too much time so I didn't have time to post OTL But now I'm back, with a not very happy chapter, sorry about that.
> 
> By the way! I'm planning on making a Tumblr for this AO3 account so I can share updates about my stories, pictures about our beloved characters and in general things about my fandoms, a friend suggested to call it Sad Unicorn (because I'm always sad and because the college mascot is a unicorn) but I appreciate suggestions! Thanks a lot for reading, leaving kudos and comments, I'll try to not take too long with the next chapter, see you~


	7. Threat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took slightly longer than expected 'cause suddenly I had a lot of homework OTL This chapter might be slightly awkward 'cause I was too tired and decided to use a translation, I'll try to keep it a one-time thing 'cause it doesn't feel good to do it, sorry about that, and thanks for reading ^^

The interrogation room was in a deathly silence, Johnny had his hands hidden under the table because he didn't want to see the dried blood that decorated them with cruelty; his body felt heavy with exhaustion and he was unable to focus his gaze on something else that wasn't the cold metal table in front of him.

The room door opened and gave way to a tall detective with black hair; he had a folder with some papers in his arms and sat down in front of him. He placed the folder on the table and opened it, quickly browsing the papers and reading only the essential information. Johnny watched him as he did this, he remembered the detective, he had been there when Tae Il’s parents and friends had gone to report his disappearance.

“Seo Young Ho, right?” Asked the man after a moment, closing the folder and waiting for an answer.

“Johnny, please call me Johnny.”

“Very well, Johnny. My name is Cho Kyu Hyun; I am one of the detectives in charge of this case.”  He explained calmly, his tone was soft but firm. “I need you to do a recount of everything that has happened, don't panic, but you were the one who realized he was missing and you were also the one who found him. It is inevitable that we suspect you, so I want you to co-operate so that we can clarify things.”

The hybrid was tense and pale; when he looked down he found his hands stained with the blood of Tae Il and a shiver traveled his spine, making him raise his eyes again. He knew that he had done nothing that should make him scared or worried, but just knowing they suspected him was enough to make him nervous; after the shock of finding his friend like that, he didn’t want to deal with this.

“I didn’t do it...” He murmured. “I have been looking for him for three days, I was just... I was on my way home, my mother asked me to buy some things for the house and- and then I heard the grinding of the wheels against the ground and a gunshot…” He felt the words get stuck in his throat and had to wait a few moments before talking again.

“When I ran towards him I saw a black passenger van driving away. A-At the beginning I did not know that it was him, he had his hands tied behind his back and his face covered with a plastic bag, he was gagged.” He clenched his hands strongly and sighed. “There was so much blood, lots of blood; I didn't know what to do...”

“I understand...” The detective had been taking notes all along, and put the pen on the table to look him in the face and talk to him. “I believe you, I know you didn’t do it, this is nothing more than a formal procedure, but I believe you, don't worry.” He smiled slightly.

At that moment a police man came into the interrogation room, drawing the attention of both men.

“Sir, the victim is conscious.”

* * *

Dong Young and Ten were outside the hospital emergency room, Tae Il was in in the middle of a surgery and they had already informed their parents. They both felt tired, they had received the call from Johnny while closing the cafe and they had immediately departed to search for their friends.

After arriving at the hospital, they had encountered the same detective who had helped them days ago; she was talking with the doctor and they managed to hear something vague about the operation and a bullet, Dong Young was so pale that the witch thought that he would faint then and there. Now they were both waiting while sitting on the uncomfortable plastic chairs that were outside the emergency room, they were both tired.

After a few minutes of silence the doctor came out and approached them, both immediately rose and asked him how he was.

“The patient is stable, he lost a considerable amount of blood, but he is recovering. The operation was successful and we were able to remove the bullet without problems, it should not take him long to awaken, for now we will transfer him to his room.” The doctor explained to them with professionalism, calm. The news brought them a huge relief.

At that time the parents of the human came walking down the aisle and the doctor withdrew to find the detective to inform her of the status of the victim while the two friends explained to the mother and father of Tae Il’s situation. The woman broke into tears of relief and the man thanked them both by worrying about his son. After that they left them alone to go see Tae Il to his room.

“Do you think Johnny is okay?” Ten asked the question that had been bothering them both, in a low voice, as if he feared the reply.

“I hope so... I thought that he would be here since it was him who found him, but...” Both fell into an uncomfortable silence again. They had known each other for so many years that this tension was strange to them, it did not feel right.

After a few minutes that felt eternal, the father of his friend came out to tell them that he was waking up and maybe it would be good that they went to check on him, even if only so that they could feel a bit better. Both accepted and followed him into the room, they were not expecting to meet such a scene.

* * *

Tae Il’s awakening was a painful experience. As the anesthesia dissipated the pain of the operation as well as of the multiple wounds throughout his body woke him up, and not in a good way. He opened his eyes in confusion and complained, he was unable to recognize the place where he was, in his mind he was still kidnapped, and the only thing he knew was that they had released his hands; he had to run.

Without thinking twice he rose from the bed, ripping away the things attached to his arm. It startled his mother who had been sitting beside the bed waiting for that him to regain full consciousness; he did not recognize her. He took the vase that was on the nightstand beside the bed, he planned to defend himself; he was going to escape even if it cost him.

“Son, you have to sit, you can’t do that...” The voice of his mother and her hand on his arm startled him and he walked away from her, unable to recognize her completely.

“Mom?” His voice was low, hoarse by all the time he had spent with the gag, just a vestige of what it had been before.

At that moment the door opened and behind it were his father, Dong Young, Ten and the detective; all perplexed because of the scene that was presented to them: Tae Il holding a vase defensively and his mother in front of him, trying to control the situation.

The detective Amber was the first to act: she approached the visibly altered boy slowly and carefully and raised her hands as a sign of peace, she didn't want to alter him even more, and required the situation to calm down as soon as possible.

“Tae Il, please lower that vase” She asked soft-spoken, standing beside his mother.

“Who are you?” He claimed with his hurt voice, his throat ached but he didn't have time to think about that. “Where am I?”

“I'm the detective Amber Liu, we are in a hospital, you're safe, I promise you.” She took out her badge and showed it to him, this seemed to reassure him a lot because he lowered the vase and leaned against the wall, panting, his side started to hurt again and the pain spread like a constant buzz.

The detective took the vase, and between his father and Dong Young they laid him back on the bed, his other friend went to find someone to give him anesthesia and in a short moment everything had returned to normal. They stayed silent for a moment, and the first to speak was the fortune teller, impatient.

“How do you feel?” He did not expect a positive response, but didn’t know what else to say, the situation was complicated.

“Everything hurts...” They all stayed silent for a moment. “How did you find me? I can’t remember very well...”

“Johnny you found, we don't yet know how... They are interrogating him at the police station.” This time it was Ten who answered, he was leaning on the wall opposite to the bed.

“Questioning him? But he did nothing wrong to me.” Nobody replied, and he did not pressure them more, they were all tired. “Was there a child with me? A selkie.”

“You were alone, we investigated the scene in detail but there were only you and the hybrid.” the detective spoke for the first time; she was the one farthest away from the group, leaning against the door.

Again, no one knew what to say and time went on in silence until a nurse came in and made everyone except his parents leave, Tae Il needed to rest. Once they were out of the room, Dong Young and Ten interrogated the detective Amber, they wanted to know what would happen to their friends.

“We will wait until tomorrow morning to obtain the testimony of the victim, your other friend should already be back at home, my colleague told me that he had finished the interrogation. If you excuse me.” She said goodbye to them and parted, leaving them without knowing what to do.

* * *

The police station was mostly empty except for three of the detectives who were working in the abduction case, the rest of the officers were looking in the vicinity of the area for any clues that could lead them to the criminals, with no success whatsoever. 

Shi Won was on his place scanning some files while  Dong Hae, his companion, was dozing off in the space beside him; Kyu Hyun was talking with his partner by phone, Amber, who was on her way back from the hospital.

Some of the police officers and detectives had already begun to arrive when the phone in the desk of the youngest detective rang, everyone became alert.

“Seoul Metropolitan Police, how can I help you?” Was what he said right after answering the call.

“Put me in speaker detective, I have information that interests all of you.” Kyu Hyun looked at the others in confusion and they looked back at him expectantly, then he did what the voice had asked.

“You’re in speaker now.” He clarified, to allow them to talk.

“Hello, detectives, are you all tired because of the case? Don't worry, it can be solved easily, just follow the instructions we have sent with a nice gift to the Lee family and you may be able to go to bed early in a couple of days.

As soon as they realized what was happening, Shi Won signaled to a pair of police officers so that they would try to track the call quickly, although it had taken so much time already that he doubted they would manage to find the exact location.

“Who are you?” Kyu Hyun asked, trying to keep the conversation flowing.

“Everything comes in time, detective. Just be sure to comply with our requirement or we will kill the child, we’re also looking for something so it won’t help anyone if we break the deal, will it?” Shi Won looked towards his companions, but they still hadn’t managed to locate the source of the call. “Good night detectives.”

“Wait!” He yelled, but they had already hung, leaving them without possibly the only clue of real importance. “Goddammit.” He growled, kicking one of the chairs.

It was as if his presence in the room had grown suddenly, that used to happen when werewolves became angry; everyone looked nervous.

“What are you waiting for? Contact the family and make sure that they are okay, I want policemen taking care of them, move!” Even if he wasn't the head of the team, no one doubted to abide by his orders; they felt more afraid than prideful and anyway it was what they needed to do. “There will be no rest until we find that child do you all understand? If we don't, a war could unleash.” At this point, everyone knew that they had to interpret his words literally; it wasn’t only one life what was at risk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo, the Tumblr is ready! You can go follow me at not-majestic-bluenicorn, although I have to warn you it is still under construction, but it shouldn't take me too long to finish it, there's still no posts tho lmao But I'll fix that soon, please wait patiently for the next chapter, see you later!


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